Internet Community Needs ‘Diversity’ to Accommodate Next Generation- Marby

Göran Marby, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN’s) President and CEO, has stressed the need for members of the internet community to make conscious efforts towards accommodating the future generation of users.

He made the call at the ongoing ICANN’s 58th public meeting, taking place from 11 to 16 March in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Marby stressed the importance of diversity with respect to the future Internet users, saying “To be able to support the next generation of Internet users, we need to be diverse enough to understand the nodes going forward.”

Speaking earlier at the meeting that attracted more than 2500 registered participants, and hosted by the Danish Business Authority and the Danish Internet Forum, Mette Bock, Denmark’s Minister of Culture, commented on the IANA Stewardship Transition and ICANN’s multistakeholder model, stating “The IANA Stewardship Transition only happened because the whole ICANN community, and that is you, was able to work together and to develop proposals that received a very broad support. It was, indeed, a masterpiece and showcase for how the multistakeholder model can function and deliver sustainable results.”

The meeting is being held six months after the IANA Stewardship Transition, a milestone in the history of ICANN’s multistakeholder community.

Stakeholders from around the world, including people from businesses, governments, academia, and civil society, have convened in Denmark to discuss various topics such as the next steps after the IANA Stewardship Transition, enhancements to ICANN’s accountability and the new generic top level domain (gTLD) program.

Professor Henrik Udsen, chairman of DIFO and DK-Hostmaster, also commented on the importance of this model.

“Like ICANN, DIFO is based on a multistakeholder model, ensuring that all interest of the Danish Internet society is represented in the continuing efforts to make the .dk zone attractive and security,” said Udsen. “We believe that this multistakeholder model both at a national and international level is a vital component in creating robust solutions to the many challenges we face.”

According to statement made available to Nigeria Communications and endorsed by Buket Coskuner, global communications and Luna Madi, communications director, EMEA, Dr. Stephen Crocker, ICANN Board Chair, remarked on the importance of working together globally to maintain the Internet.

“We're all different parts of one entity united by a common purpose to help maintain an amazing global network of networks,” said Crocker. “If we do our mission well, we will facilitate communication and the flow of information around the globe, but the only way that we can do that is if we work together and the work that we do together is framed by compassion and respect.”

At the ceremony, David Conrad, ICANN’s chief technology officer announced the launch of a test bed for the upcoming Key Signing Key (KSK) Rollover. “On 11 October 2017, relatively soon, we are going to be changing the root key signing key. Before that time, DNS operators, who have enabled DNSSEC validation, must update their configurations. So what we're announcing today is a test bed for DNS operators to determine the readiness to support automatic updates..”

The KSK is used to cryptographically sign the Zone Signing Key (ZSK), which is used by the Root Zone Maintainer to DNSSEC-sign the root zone of the Internet's DNS.

Maintaining an up-to-date KSK is essential to ensuring DNSSEC-signed domain names continue to validate following the rollover. Internet service providers, enterprise network operators and others who operate DNSSEC validation must update their systems with the public part of the new key signing key.

Those unable to attend ICANN58 in person are highly encouraged to participate remotely. Details for remote participation in any of the sessions can be found here.